§2. Gregory then makes an explanation at length touching the eternal Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Since then this doctrine is put forth by the Truth itself, it follows that anything which the inventors of pestilent heresies devise besides to subvert this Divine utterance,—as, for example, calling the Father “Maker” and “Creator” of the Son instead of “Father,” and the Son a “result,” a “creature,” a “product,” instead of “Son,” and the Holy Spirit the “creature of a creature,” and the “product of a product,” instead of His proper title the “Spirit,” and whatever those who fight against God are pleased to say of Him,—all such fancies we term a denial and violation of the Godhead revealed to us in this doctrine. For once for all we have learned from the Lord, through Whom comes the transformation of our nature from mortality to immortality,—from Him, I say, we have learned to what we ought to look with the eyes of our understanding,—that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We say that it is a terrible and soul-destroying thing to misinterpret these Divine utterances and to devise in their stead assertions to subvert them,—assertions pretending to correct God the Word, Who appointed that we should maintain these statements as part of our faith. For each of these titles understood in its natural sense becomes for Christians a rule of truth and a law of piety. For while there are many other names by which Deity is indicated in the Historical Books, in the Prophets and in the Law, our Master Christ passes by all these and commits to us these titles as better able to bring us to the faith about the Self-Existent, declaring that it suffices us to cling to the title, “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” in order to attain to the apprehension of Him Who is absolutely Existent, Who is one and yet not one. In regard to essence He is one, wherefore the Lord ordained that we should look to one Name: but in regard to the attributes indicative of the Persons, our belief in Him is distinguished into belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost195    Or, somewhat more literally, “He admits of distinction into belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, being divided,” &c.; He is divided without separation, and united without confusion. For when we hear the title “Father” we apprehend the meaning to be this, that the name is not understood with reference to itself alone, but also by its special signification indicates the relation to the Son. For the term “Father” would have no meaning apart by itself, if “Son” were not connoted by the utterance of the word “Father.” When, then, we learnt the name “Father” we were taught at the same time, by the selfsame title, faith also in the Son. Now since Deity by its very nature is permanently and immutably the same in all that pertains to its essence, nor did it at any time fail to be anything that it now is, nor will it at any future time be anything that it now is not, and since He Who is the very Father was named Father by the Word, and since in the Father the Son is implied,—since these things are so, we of necessity believe that He Who admits no change or alteration in His nature was always entirely what He is now, or, if there is anything which He was not, that He assuredly is not now. Since then He is named Father by the very Word, He assuredly always was Father, and is and will be even as He was. For surely it is not lawful in speaking of the Divine and unimpaired Essence to deny that what is excellent always belonged to It. For if He was not always what He now is, He certainly changed either from the better to the worse or from the worse to the better, and of these assertions the impiety is equal either way, whichever statement is made concerning the Divine nature. But in fact the Deity is incapable of change and alteration. So, then, everything that is excellent and good is always contemplated in the fountain of excellency. But “the Only-begotten God, Who is in the bosom of the Father196    S. John i. 18” is excellent, and beyond all excellency:—mark you, He says, “Who is in the bosom of the Father,” not “Who came to be” there.

Well then, it has been demonstrated by these proofs that the Son is from all eternity to be contemplated in the Father, in Whom He is, being Life and Light and Truth, and every noble name and conception—to say that the Father ever existed by Himself apart from these attributes is a piece of the utmost impiety and infatuation. For if the Son, as the Scripture saith, is the Power of God, and Wisdom, and Truth, and Light, and Sanctification, and Peace, and Life, and the like, then before the Son existed, according to the view of the heretics, these things also had no existence at all. And if these things had no existence they must certainly conceive the bosom of the Father to have been devoid of such excellences. To the end, then, that the Father might not be conceived as destitute of the excellences which are His own, and that the doctrine might not run wild into this extravagance, the right faith concerning the Son is necessarily included in our Lord’s utterance with the contemplation of the eternity of the Father. And for this reason He passes over all those names which are employed to indicate the surpassing excellence of the Divine nature197    That nature which transcends our conceptions (ὑπερκειμένη)., and delivers to us as part of our profession of faith the title of “Father” as better suited to indicate the truth, being a title which, as has been said, by its relative sense connotes with itself the Son, while the Son, Who is in the Father, always is what He essentially is, as has been said already, because the Deity by Its very nature does not admit of augmentation. For It does not perceive any other good outside of Itself, by participation in which It could acquire any accession, but is always immutable, neither casting away what It has, nor acquiring what It has not: for none of Its properties are such as to be cast away. And if there is anything whatsoever blessed, unsullied, true and good, associated with Him and in Him, we see of necessity that the good and holy Spirit must belong to Him198    Or “be conjoined with such attribute:” αὐτῷ probably refers, like περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ just above, to Θεός or τὸ Θεῖον, but it may conceivably refer to εἴ τι μακάριον, κ.τ.λ., not by way of accretion. That Spirit is indisputably a princely Spirit199    ἡγεμονικόν. Cf. Ps. li. 12 in LXX. (Spiritus principalis in Vulg., “free spirit” in the “Authorised” Version, and in the Prayer-book Version)., a quickening Spirit, the controlling and sanctifying force of all creation, the Spirit that “worketh all in all” as He wills200    Cf. 1 Cor. xii. 6.. Thus we conceive no gap between the anointed Christ and His anointing, between the King and His sovereignty, between Wisdom and the Spirit of Wisdom, between Truth and the Spirit of Truth, between Power and the Spirit of Power, but as there is contemplated from all eternity in the Father the Son, Who is Wisdom and Truth, and Counsel, and Might, and Knowledge, and Understanding, so there is also contemplated in Him the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Wisdom, and of Truth, and of Counsel, and of Understanding, and all else that the Son is and is called. For which reason we say that to the holy disciples the mystery of godliness was committed in a form expressing at once union and distinction,—that we should believe on the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. For the differentiation of the subsistences201    ὑποστασέων makes the distinction of Persons202    προσώπων clear and free from confusion, while the one Name standing in the forefront of the declaration of the Faith clearly expounds to us the unity of essence of the Persons203    προσώπων Whom the Faith declares,—I mean, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For by these appellations we are taught not a difference of nature, but only the special attributes that mark the subsistences204    ὑποστασέων, so that we know that neither is the Father the Son, nor the Son the Father, nor the Holy Spirit either the Father or the Son, and recognize each by the distinctive mark of His Personal Subsistence205    ὑποστασέων, in illimitable perfection, at once contemplated by Himself and not divided from that with Which He is connected.

Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ δόγμα τοῦτο παρ' αὐτῆς ἐκτίθεται τῆς ἀληθείας, εἴ τι παρεπινοοῦσιν ἐπὶ ἀθετήσει τῆς θείας ταύτης φωνῆς οἱ τῶν πονηρῶν αἱρέσεων εὑρεταί, ὡς ἀντὶ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς κτίστην αὐτὸν καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦ υἱοῦ ὀνομάζειν, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἔργον καὶ κτίσμα καὶ ποίημα, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κτίσμα κτίσματος καὶ ἔργον ἔργου καὶ πάντα ὅσα τοῖς θεομάχοις περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγειν δοκεῖ, πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἄρνησιν τῆς ἀποκαλυφθείσης ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ δόγματι τούτῳ θεότητος καὶ παράβασιν ὀνομάζομεν. ἅπαξ γὰρ μεμαθήκαμεν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου, πρὸς ὃ βλέπειν χρὴ τῇ διανοίᾳ, δι' οὗ γίνεται ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ θνητοῦ πρὸς τὸ ἀθάνατον τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν μεταστοιχείωσις: τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα. φοβερὸν οὖν εἶναί φαμεν καὶ ὀλέθριον παραλογίσασθαι μὲν τὰς θείας ταύτας φωνάς, ἀντεπινοεῖν δὲ τὰς ἐπὶ ἀθετήσει τούτων παρευρισκομένας, ὥσπερ ἐπιδιορθουμένους τὸν θεὸν λόγον τὸν νομοθετήσαντα ταύτας τὰς φωνὰς ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς πίστεως ἔχειν. ἑκάστη γὰρ τῶν κλήσεων τούτων διὰ τῆς προσφυοῦς σημασίας νοουμένη κανὼν ἀληθείας καὶ νόμος εὐσεβείας τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς γίνεται. πολλῶν γὰρ ὄντων καὶ ἄλλων ὀνομάτων, οἷς τὸ θεῖον διασημαίνεται ἐν ἱστορίᾳ τε καὶ προφητείᾳ καὶ νόμῳ, πάντα καταλιπὼν ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς ὡς μᾶλλον ἡμᾶς προσάγεσθαι δυναμένας τῇ περὶ τοῦ ὄντος πίστει ταύτας τὰς φωνὰς παρατίθεται, ἀρκεῖν ἀποφηνάμενος παραμένειν ἡμᾶς τῇ τοῦ πατρός τε καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κλήσει εἰς κατανόησιν τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος, ὅπερ καὶ ἕν ἐστι καὶ οὐχ ἕν. τῷ μὲν γὰρ λόγῳ τῆς οὐσίας ἕν ἐστι, διὸ καὶ εἰς ἓν ὄνομα βλέπειν ὁ δεσπότης ἐνομοθέτησε: τοῖς δὲ γνωριστικοῖς τῶν ὑποστάσεων ἰδιώμασιν εἰς πατρός τε καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου πίστιν διῄρηται, ἀδιαστάτως τε μεριζόμενον καὶ ἀσυγχύτως ἑνούμενον. ὅταν γὰρ ἀκούσωμεν πατέρα, ταύτην ἀναλαμβάνομεν τὴν διάνοιαν, ὅτι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο οὐκ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ νοεῖται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν σχέσιν διὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἐμφάσεως ἀποσημαίνει. οὐ γὰρ ἂν πατὴρ κεχωρισμένος ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ νοηθείη, μὴ υἱοῦ συνημμένου διὰ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκφωνήσεως. πατέρα οὖν μαθόντες τῇ αὐτῇ φωνῇ καὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν υἱὸν πίστιν συνεδιδάχθημεν. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὸ θεῖον τῇ φύσει, ὅπερ ἐστὶ καθὸ ἔστιν, ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχει, οὔτε ποτέ τι μὴ ὂν ὃ νῦν ἐστιν οὔτε ποτέ τι ἐσόμενον ὃ νῦν οὐκ ἔστιν, πατὴρ δὲ ὠνομάσθη παρὰ τοῦ λόγου ὁ ἀληθινὸς πατήρ, τῷ δὲ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ υἱὸς συνεμφαίνεται, ἀναγκαίως πιστεύομεν, ὅτι ὁ μηδεμίαν τροπὴν ἢ ἀλλοίωσιν ἐν τῇ φύσει παραδεχόμενος, ὃ νῦν ἐστι, καὶ ἀεὶ πάντως ἦν ἤ, εἴ ποτέ τι οὐκ ἦν, οὐδὲ νῦν πάντως ἐστίν. ἐπεὶ οὖν πατὴρ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ λόγου κατονομάζεται, πάντοτε πάντως καὶ ἦν πατὴρ καὶ ἐστὶ καὶ ἔσται ὡς ἦν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ θέμις ἐπὶ τῆς θείας τε καὶ ἀκηράτου φύσεως μὴ πάντοτε τὸ καλὸν περὶ αὐτὴν εἶναι λέγειν. εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἀεὶ ἦν ὃ νῦν ἐστιν, ἐτράπη πάντως ἢ πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον ἀπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος ἢ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἀπὸ τοῦ χείρονος: τούτων δὲ ἴσον ἐστὶ τὸ ἀσεβὲς καθ' ἑκάτερον, ὁπότερον ἂν ἐπὶ τῆς θείας λέγηται φύσεως. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἀνεπίδεκτόν ἐστι τὸ θεῖον τροπῆς τε καὶ ἀλλοιώσεως. ἄρα πᾶν ὅτιπέρ ἐστι καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθόν, ἀεὶ περὶ τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ θεωρεῖται πηγήν: καλὸν δὲ καὶ καλοῦ παντὸς ἐπέκεινα ὁ μονογενής ἐστι θεὸς ὁ ὢν ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ πατρός, ὢν ἐν τοῖς κόλποις, οὐχὶ ἐγγενόμενος.
Οὐκοῦν ἀποδέδεικται διὰ τούτων τὸ ἐξ ἀϊδίου τὸν υἱὸν ἐνθεωρεῖσθαι τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἐν ᾧ ἐστι, ζωὴν ὄντα καὶ φῶς καὶ ἀλήθειαν καὶ πᾶν ἀγαθὸν ὄνομά τε καὶ νόημα, ὧν χωρὶς ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ λέγειν εἶναί ποτε τὸν πατέρα τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀσεβείας ἅμα καὶ παραπληξίας ἐστί. εἰ γὰρ ὁ υἱός, καθὼς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, δύναμίς ἐστι θεοῦ καὶ σοφία καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ φῶς καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ ζωὴ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, πρὸ τοῦ τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι, καθὼς τοῖς αἱρετικοῖς δοκεῖ, οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἦν πάντως. τούτων δὲ μὴ ὄντων κενὸν πάντως τῶν τοιούτων ἀγαθῶν τὸν πατρῷον ἐννοήσουσι κόλπον. ὡς ἂν οὖν μήτε ὁ πατὴρ ἔρημός ποτε τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγαθῶν ἐννοηθείη μηδὲ εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἀτοπίαν ἐκπέσοι τὸ δόγμα, ἀναγκαίως κατὰ τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ δεσπότου τῇ ἀϊδιότητι τοῦ πατρὸς ἡ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ πίστις συνθεωρεῖται. οὗ χάριν πάντα καταλιπὼν τὰ ὀνόματα, ὅσα πρὸς ἔνδειξιν τῆς ὑπερκειμένης φύσεως λέγεται, τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς κλῆσιν ὡς ἐνδεικτικωτέραν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκτίθεται ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς πίστεως, ἥτις καθὼς εἴρηται τῇ σχετικῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν μεθ' ἑαυτῆς συνενδείκνυται. τοῦ δὲ υἱοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ πατρί, ἀεὶ ὄντος ὅπερ ἐστίν, καθὼς εἴρηται καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν λόγοις, ὅτι τὸ θεῖον τῇ φύσει τὴν πρὸς τὸ μεῖζον αὔξησιν οὐ προσδέχεται (οὐ γὰρ ὁρᾷ τι ἔξω ἑαυτοῦ ἀγαθὸν ἄλλο, οὗ κατὰ μετουσίαν προσλαμβάνει τὸ πλέον) ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντος, οὔτε ἀποβάλλοντος ὃ ἔχει οὔτε προσλαμβάνοντος ὃ μὴ ἔχει (οὔτε γάρ τι τῶν ἀποβλήτων ἔχει, καὶ εἴ τι μακάριον καὶ ἀκήρατον καὶ ἀληθινὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ πάντως ἐστίν, ἀναγκαίως ὁρῶμεν οὐκ ἐξ ἐπικτήσεως αὐτῷ προσγινόμενον τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀγαθόν τε καὶ ἅγιον, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εὐθές, ἡγεμονικόν, ζωοποιόν, τὸ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως περικρατητικόν τε καὶ ἁγιαστικόν, ὃ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν ἐνεργεῖ καθὼς βούλεται, ὡς μηδέν τι μεταξὺ διάλειμμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρὸς τὸ χρίσμα νοεῖν ἢ τοῦ βασιλέως πρὸς τὴν βασιλείαν ἢ τῆς σοφίας πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς σοφίας ἢ τῆς ἀληθείας πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας ἢ τῆς δυνάμεως πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς δυνάμεως) ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀϊδίου τῷ πατρὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐνθεωρουμένου, ὅς ἐστι σοφία τε καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ βουλὴ καὶ ἰσχὺς καὶ γνῶσις καὶ σύνεσις, ἐξ ἀϊδίου καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτῷ συνθεωρεῖται, ὅπερ ἐστὶ πνεῦμα σοφίας τε καὶ ἀληθείας καὶ βουλῆς καὶ συνέσεως καὶ πάντα τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα ὁ υἱός ἐστί τε καὶ ὀνομάζεται. διὰ τοῦτό φαμεν συνημμένον ἅμα καὶ διακεκριμένον παραδεδόσθαι τοῖς ἁγίοις μαθηταῖς τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον, τὸ δεῖν πιστεύειν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. ἡ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ὑποστάσεων ἰδιότης τρανήν τε καὶ ἀσύγχυτον ποιεῖται τὴν τῶν προσώπων διαστολήν, ἓν δὲ ὄνομα προκείμενον τῆς κατὰ τὴν πίστιν ἐκθέσεως σαφῶς ἡμῖν τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς οὐσίας τῶν ἐν τῇ πίστει προσώπων διερμηνεύει, πατρός τε λέγω καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου. διὰ γὰρ τῶν κλήσεων τούτων οὐ φύσεως διαφορὰν διδασκόμεθα, ἀλλὰ μόνας τὰς τῶν ὑποστάσεων γνωριστικὰς ἰδιότητας: ὥστε γινώσκειν ἡμᾶς μήτε υἱὸν τὸν πατέρα εἶναι μήτε πατέρα τὸν υἱὸν μήτε υἱὸν ἢ πατέρα τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἀλλ' ἕκαστον ἐν τῷ ἰδιάζοντι τῆς ὑποστάσεως χαρακτῆρι γνωρίζειν, ἐν ἀορίστῳ τελειότητι καὶ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ θεωρούμενον καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ συνημμένου οὐ διαιρούμενον.